Why does the skin around the eyes age faster than the skin on the face?

Some people say that to see whether a woman is old, you only need to look at her eyes and neck, because these two places are the easiest to reveal age. Indeed, crow's feet, dark circles and eye bags cannot be covered up, so many people pay special attention to eye care.

When it comes to eye care, we have to mention eye cream. A small one can cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars. As for the effect, it can be said that there is no shortage of supporters and opponents. Some people think that the eyes are special, while others emphasize that it is still a part of the facial skin. They all have their reasons. Today we will talk to you about the problem of eye skin.

1. Differences between eye skin and facial skin

First of all, the skin around the eyes is indeed of the same structure as the skin on the face, both are standard skin structures. Therefore, the effective ingredients that are generally effective on the face are also effective on the skin around the eyes.

(Picture from the Internet)

Secondly, the particularity of the eye skin mainly includes two points: skin structure and movement.

1. Skin structure.

Although the skin structure is the standard epidermis-dermis-subcutaneous tissue, the characteristics of facial skin in different parts of the face are not exactly the same.

(Picture from the Internet)

As shown in the figure above, the thickness of the skin around the eyes is significantly lower than that of the skin on other parts of the face, especially the eyelid skin, which is the thinnest skin on the human body, with a thickness of only 0.3-0.5mm[1]. In addition, the skin around the eyes has almost no sebaceous glands, sweat glands, or hair follicle openings.

The reason for this situation is largely due to evolutionary adaptation. If the eyelid skin is very thick, it will increase the burden on the eyes. After all, many people describe the feeling of wanting to sleep as "the eyelids are too heavy to lift". Therefore, "thin eyelids" may be some kind of evolutionary advantage. Of course, too much is as bad as too little. Too thin eyelids cannot protect the eyeballs.

2. Mobility of the eye skin

The special feature of the eye skin is its movement. Some facial muscles can move in multiple directions, thus expressing facial expressions. Therefore, these muscles are also called facial muscles. Among the facial muscles, the eye has the largest amount of movement. Under normal circumstances, a person can blink several to dozens of times a minute. This high-frequency blinking itself is a neural reflex function to keep the cornea or conjunctiva moist. However, it also objectively makes the eye area more prone to wrinkles caused by dynamic contraction. Some people call this dynamic wrinkles [2].

Therefore, these two points determine that although the eye skin is part of the facial skin, the particularity of the eye skin leads to the appearance of another product: wrinkles.

2. Eye wrinkles

The eyes are an area that is particularly prone to wrinkles. For many people, the most obvious sign of aging is not the thinning hair or the gradual decline in physical strength, but the wrinkles that appear early, even as early as around 25 years old.

The reason why eye wrinkles appear first is the special nature of the eyes. The skin structure around the eyes is relatively thin, and the high-frequency dynamic contraction of the eyes makes the skin around the eyes particularly prone to dynamic wrinkles.

In addition, as people age, the inevitable aging of the human body begins to show up in all parts of the body. As the outer layer of the body, the face is easily stimulated and affected by various environmental factors, such as temperature changes, ultraviolet radiation, and other stimuli. As a result, the face ages faster than other parts of the body. Coupled with the atrophy, relaxation, and degeneration of the subcutaneous tissue of the skin, wrinkles around the eyes appear early [3].

Image source network

Therefore, extra attention needs to be paid to wrinkles around the eyes. After all, when wrinkles appear around the eyes, many parts of the body are still youthful and beautiful. Therefore, eye care products - eye creams - appeared.

3. How does eye cream work?

Eye cream is a type of care product specifically for the skin around the eyes. Its purpose is to target the characteristics of the skin around the eyes.

According to the different classifications of eye wrinkles, eye cream care actually has different levels.

The easiest to take care of are dry lines, which are wrinkles caused by the lack of elasticity of the skin due to aging of the keratin and dehydration of the skin. They can also be called false wrinkles. For dry lines, hydration is the best way to care for them, so many eye creams have special hydration strategies.

(Pictures from the Internet, deleted if infringing)

Dry lines can be considered as reversible wrinkles regulated by the quality of keratin and water, and hydration can restore them. But then, we will enter the deep water area, that is, static lines and expression lines. Unlike dry lines, static lines and expression lines are not caused by lack of water or keratin aging, but by physiological aging of the skin and long-term muscle contraction.

Specifically, the common reasons are as follows

1. Oxidative damage

Cells are constantly metabolizing, especially the energy generation system centered on mitochondria, which produces a large number of free radicals. These high-energy free radicals will combine with the structures and substances within the cells to cause oxidative damage, leading to cell aging.

2. Decreased cell function

As cells age, their functions are also affected, such as decreased synthesis and secretion capabilities, which can also lead to aging symptoms. Typical aging problems include decreased skin elasticity due to insufficient skin collagen.

Therefore, when solving these deep-seated problems, we need to deal with them in a targeted manner. And a better eye cream often takes all these aspects into consideration.

In short, eye cream is definitely useful, but you must choose a good one.

1. Codner MA, Wolfli JN, Anzarut A. Primary transcutaneous lower

blepharoplasty with routine lateral canthal support:acomprehensive 10-year review [J]. Plast Rconstr Surg, 2008, 121(1):241-250.

2. Yan Ze. Clinical application and anatomical research of facial rejuvenation surgery[D]. First Military Medical University, 2006.

3. Sturm, Lana P., et al. "A systematic review of dermal fillers for age-related lines and wrinkles." ANZ journal of surgery 81.1-2 (2011): 9-17.